On left and right the foyer opens into a fine reception hall and a graceful refreshment room. In the rear is a theater, where moving pictures of Argentine scenes are shown daily. In the wall of the corridor surrounding the theater on the first floor are excellent panoramas showing scenery and resources. Among these is a view of the famed Iguazu Falls, the greatest and most magnificent waterfall on the globe. In the corridor upstairs are other panoramas, a series of photographs, and a collection of graphic charts which show the commerce, finance, industry, administration, education and social service of the republic. The second floor ends at the rear in a beautiful library.
The pavilion was built entirely of materials brought from Buenos Aires, and constructed by Argentino workmen.
Australia.—The Australian Pavilion, at the Presidio entrance to the Exposition, was designed by George J. Oakeshott, F. I. A. N. S. W. (p. 148.) Obviously it is intended to symbolize the industrial cohesion of the six Australian States, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, West Australia, and Tasmania. The facade bears below the cornice the titles of the states, with the state banner waving from a staff above. All are subordinated to the central tower, floating the flag of the Commonwealth.
Because its exhibits are eloquent of the resources of the great young country, the Pavilion has been described aptly as "the shop window of the Commonwealth." The building is, in fact, a huge sample room; and although the large states only, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, provided the display, each section is adequately representative of all Australia produces. Tropical fruits and other products from the northeast combine with the horticultural and agricultural products of the temperate zone. Minerals from the rich fields of all the states are grouped. The opals and gems from White Cliffs and Lightning Ridge in New South Wales vie with other precious stones from Queensland in forming one of the great attractions. Handsome building stones, including exceptional marble, are side by side with samples of the world-famous hardwoods and the scarcely known but beautiful cabinet woods from the Australian forest, while the pastoral areas have provided wonderful collections of wool, leathers, meat and by-products. The agricultural exhibits have attracted much attention, and were so arranged as to show the productiveness of irrigated areas as well as of the country generally. Carefully prepared literature, distributed liberally, has been a feature of the efforts of the Australians. The commissioners have made it their boast that nothing has been exaggerated; everything is "real." Even art critics who visit the pavilion will not be disappointed, for on the walls they will find many paintings of merit by Australian artists, including loan collections from the National Gallery of New South Wales and the Victorian Art Society.
The Australian exhibits, unlike those of most other countries, have been grouped in this building, instead of being shown in the various Exposition palaces.
Bolivia.—Bolivia has erected one of the most essentially national pavilions at the Exposition, an admirable building that expresses equally the two elements of its population, the Spanish and the Indian. The building is Spanish in its solid rectangular plan; its entrance is copied from the portal of the Church of San Lorenzo, and its central patio fashioned after that of the old mint at Potosi. It is Indian in the curious carved work of the facade and the monoliths flanking the entrance, both being exact copies of ceremonial temple stones from the lake region of Bolivia. The building was designed by Dr. Calderon of the Bolivian Commission and Albert Farr of San Francisco.
Tropical plants and fruits are shown in the brick-paved patio. The rooms in the interior include a moving-picture theater, an art gallery and museum, with pictures by Bolivian artists, and relics of the civilization of the Incas. The national exhibits are shown in the Exposition palaces.
Canada.—The Canadian Pavilion is the largest of the foreign buildings, and the best example at the Exposition of businesslike advertising by a government. (p. 148.) Planned by a permanent commission which has had fifteen years of exposition experience, the Canadian exhibit, down to the last detail, is designed to advertise the country. Even the site, at the junction of the highways leading to the Live-Stock Section, was chosen to get the largest number of the kind of visitors Canada is most anxious to greet. The architects were Humphreys, Limited, of London.
Architecturally, the building is mixed classic, finished in the Exposition travertine. The maple leaf of Canada appears in medallions on the walls, the royal arms of Britain over the entrances, and the British lion on either side of the approaches. Canada's entire exhibit is here. Her commission cares nothing for awards, but is concerned solely with attracting settlers and capital.
With this in view, the chief feature of the display consists of Canadian landscapes, illustrating the agricultural, lumbering, mining, and shipping interests of British North America. The scenes are set to produce a remarkable perspective. The beholder seems to stand on rising ground, looking away over miles of country. In each view the foreground is enlivened with real water and either living or moving things. There is a panorama of the great wheat fields bordering on Lake Superior. Trains move from grain elevators in the interior to the docks on the lake, where model steamers ply on real water. Electricity supplies the power.